Laser working group

The laser working group considered several options to deliver synchronized laser pulses of the required energy to the photocathode and laser triggered switches. Some development work may be required to provide a system that has the desirable characteristics of stability, ease of use and low maintenance. The baseline concept utilizes doubled Nd:YAG-pumped dye oscillator/amplifiers to produce an upconverted picosecond pulse that can be amplified to tens of mJ in a KrF excimer laser. A fraction of the dye oscillator output is also compressed by means of a fiber-grating compressor and further amplified in a dye amplifier before being upconverted to produce the synchronized pulse for the photocathode. Several variations on this baseline concept were investigated. All of the alternatives discussed require on the order of $300 K in capital equipment and probably at least double that amount in manpower. A choice may depend on availability of some of the equipment as well as more detailed assessments of the practicality of the other approaches. 9 refs., 1 fig